Well I don't drink tea for a start, and I don't put much stock into cup reading either.

I do drink coffee though, and I got quite a giggle today when I noticed the distinct shape of a light-bulb with running shoes on. That seems suitable to me. I do have ideas running about my head, the problem is their so fast if I don't pounce on them right away (or at least make a note of them) then I lose them pretty quickly too.

Just wondering what shapes everyone else sees that reflects or maybe even contradicts a big aspect of your personalities.

I know you can see about anything you want in these things, but it's all in good fun. For example it is a Rincewind mug, so I could even say the shape reflects Rincewind and not me. "I have an idea. Let's run away!"

As someone who has an Aunt who reads tealeaves (she is downright scary at times) I am slightly open minded about the whole thing. (Not open enough to have my brains come pouring out)

As to the coffee I believe there are some cultures where coffee dregs are read the same as leaves.

Part of me says that leaving your fate up to some dried out rehydrated bits of foliage and twigs (or in the case of coffee rehydrated ground up roasted seeds) is a bit far fetched. Buy my Aunt is often dead accurate (she lives the other side of the country and I see her once in a blue moon but she will ring and say she saw something in the leaves and what has happened. (Generally after something has happened I tell her to drink more tea and tell me before it happens would be good) Mind you she rang once to tell me that whatever it was it was going to be okay (I had just found a 3 x2 cm lump and no one knew I had not even made the Dr appointment yet)

We often cook and eat our own Asian meals and end the meal with some jasmin tea and then sit around and try to determine the shapes in the cups afterwards. I think I once saw a kangaroo with a gun. So I was careful around all marsupials for a while just in case I came across an annoyed macropod with an uzi.

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity." --Harlan Ellison

We had a set of two mugs as a gift when we got married. Sharlene has one and I brought the other one back here. It lives here now and is the mug I usually use. It's got Tea and Coffee written on the outside and Hot Chocolate written on the inside. It's a real special mug to me (for obvious reasons).

As to tea leaf/coffee ground readings - as I understand it, they are used as a focus in much the same way a crystal ball is used. Not so much that the reader can actually see images, but maybe that they suggest images. Sort of...

But, seriously, would someone please explain the coffee grounds readings to me? Do you read them in the filter, because that's where mine end up. Which means they're always funnel shaped. What does that mean?

I don't know - unless it's one of those cases where the filter breaks and the first you know of it is when you drink the last mouthful. The reading takes place on the kitchen wall when you spit it out.